Interventional neuroradiology (INR) has evolved from a hybrid mixture of daring radiologists and iconoclastic neurosurgeons into a multidisciplinary specialty, which has become indispensable for cerebrovascular and neurological centers worldwide. This manuscript traces the origins of INR and describes its evolution to the present day. The focus will be on cerebrovascular disorders including aneurysms, stroke, brain arteriovenous malformations, dural arteriovenous fistulae, and atherosclerotic disease, both intra- and extracranial. Also discussed are cerebral vasospasm, venolymphatic malformations of the head and neck, tumor embolization, idiopathic intracranial hypertension, inferior petrosal venous sinus sampling for Cushing’s disease, and spinal interventions. Pediatric INR has not been included and deserves a separate, dedicated review.

Immunoactivation depends upon the antigen potential to modulate T-cell repertoires. The present study has enumerated the effect of 61 kDa recombinant Leishmania donovani co-factor-independent phosphoglycerate mutase (rLd-iPGAM) on mononuclear cells of healthy and treated visceral leishmaniasis subjects as well as on THP-1 cell line. rLd-iPGAM stimulation induced higher expression of interleukin-1β (IL-1β) in the phagocytic cell, its receptor and CD69 on T-cell subsets. These cellular activations resulted in upregulation of host-protective cytokines IL-2, IL-12, IL-17, tumour necrosis factor-α and interferon-γ, and downregulation of IL-4, IL-10 and tumour growth factor-β. This immune polarization was also evidenced by upregulation of nuclear factor-κ light-chain enhancer of activated B cells p50 and regulated expression of suppressor of mother against decapentaplegic protein-4. rLd-iPGAM stimulation also promoted lymphocyte proliferation and boosted the leishmaniacidal activity of macrophages by upregulating reactive oxygen species. It also induced 1·8-fold higher release of nitric oxide (NO) by promoting the transcription of inducible nitric oxide synthase gene. Besides, in silico analysis suggested the presence of major histocompatibility complex class I and II restricted epitopes, which can proficiently trigger CD8+ and CD4+ cells, respectively. This study reports rLd-iPGAM as an effective immunoprophylactic agent, which can be used in future vaccine design.

In this commentary we focus on individual differences in proposed mechanisms underlying arousal-based enhancement of prioritized stimuli. We discuss the potential of genotyping studies for examining effects of noradrenergic processes on stimulus prioritization in humans and stress the importance of potential individual differences in the activity of specific receptor subtypes in hotspot processes proposed by the GANE model.

The thermal conductivities of epoxy composites of mixtures of graphite and graphene in varying ratios were measured. Thermal characterization results showed unexpectedly high conductivities at a certain ratio filler ratio. This phenomenon was exhibited by samples with three different overall filler concentrations (graphene + graphite) of 7, 14, and 35 wt%. The highest thermal conductivity of 42.4 ± 4.8 W/m K (nearly 250 times the thermal conductivity of pristine epoxy) was seen for a sample with 30 wt% graphite and 5 wt% graphene when characterized using the dual-mode heat flow meter technique. This significant improvement in thermal conductivity can be attributed to the lowering of overall thermal interface resistance due to small amounts of nanofillers (graphene) improving the thermal contact between the primary microfillers (graphite). The synergistic effect of this hybrid filler system is lost at higher loadings of the graphene relative to graphite. Graphite and graphene mixed in the ratio of 6:1 yielded the highest thermal conductivities at three different filler loadings.

OxyCide Daily Disinfectant Cleaner, a novel peracetic acid/hydrogen peroxide–based sporicidal disinfectant, was as effective as sodium hypochlorite for in vitro killing of Clostridium difficile spores, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, and vancomcyin-resistant enterococci. OxyCide was minimally affected by organic load and was effective in reducing pathogen contamination in isolation rooms

Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2014;35(11):1414–1416